Education minister Bratya Basu on Wednesday said the school education department would carry on with the recruitment process in compliance with orders from court, cooperation with the court and conformity to the law.
In response to a question on when the problems of the School Service Commission (SSC) would be resolved, minister Basu said: “There is nothing to be resolved. It is a sub judice matter. We will carry on with the recruitment drive following instructions from the court and in cooperation with the court and conforming to the law.”
The minister spoke on the sidelines of a programme at Science City.
The School Service Commission has cancelled the recruitment of at least 17 teachers in secondary schools, who were appointed in 2020, complying with a Calcutta High Court order.
One of the cancellation orders, signed by SSC chairman Siddhartha Majumder, says: “Hence in terms of the aforesaid solemn order of the Hon’ble High Court in connection with… the recommendation issued to… presently working as the assistant teacher… is cancelled today....”
This is the first time the education minister spoke on the issue related to alleged irregularities in the recruitment of teachers and Group C and D employees for schools by the SSC.
A single-judge bench of Calcutta High Court had last week asked Basu’s predecessor as education minister, Partha Chatterjee, to appear before the CBI for questioning in connection with the allegedly illegal appointments. The order has been stayed by a division bench.
Sources in the education department said that after assuming charge as SSC chairman in January, Majumder suggested a mechanism to the department on how to comply with the court order in the recruitment process so that transparency could be restored.
“The comments from the minister suggested that the department wants to put an end to this controversy without any delay,” said an official of the commission.